First International PROD Olympiad in Industrial Development Invites Uzbek High School Students to Participate

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The inaugural International Olympiad in Industrial Development (PROD) for high school students is now inviting English-speaking students from grades 8–12 around the world to participate.

Industrial development involves creating programs or technologies developed by large teams of specialists in major global IT companies. PROD is the world’s first Olympiad where high school students can engage with real business challenges from leading technology companies, explore software systems and business process automation, and develop their own applications and services aimed at improving organizational efficiency and reducing costs. Participation in the Olympiad provides students with insight into how industry leaders operate, preparing them to address real-world business challenges in the future.

The PROD Olympiad offers high school students worldwide an opportunity to immerse themselves in the IT field before entering university and to shape their professional trajectory. Participants will develop practical skills, gain valuable knowledge from industry leaders, experience teamwork, and interact with peers from different countries.

All stages of the international PROD Olympiad, except for the final, are conducted online, allowing students from anywhere in the world to participate. Finalists will be invited to Moscow for the concluding team round, with the Olympiad organizers covering accommodation and meals.

The Olympiad is organized by leading Russian educational and industry institutions: Central University, one of Russia’s leaders in practice-oriented education; T-Technology Group, a global fintech pioneer and one of the largest financial online ecosystems in the world; and the Faculty of Computer Science at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), one of Russia’s top universities.

Participants will have the opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced IT specialists who have built the fintech sector in Russia and significantly influenced its global development. T-Technology Group, based on the digital ecosystem of one of Russia’s largest online banks, develops mobile and digital services that serve as benchmarks both domestically and internationally. Teams will develop projects under the mentorship of professionals from T-Technology Group, who create services that surpass competitors worldwide in technological sophistication and efficiency.

Registration is open until 2 December on the official PROD International Olympiad website. Deep programming skills are not required to participate; logical thinking and basic computer science knowledge are sufficient.

This year marks the third edition of the PROD Olympiad, but it is the first to have an international scope, available to high school students worldwide in both English and Russian.

In 2024, the Olympiad received over 10,000 applications, with more than 4,000 Russian-speaking students from Russia and 23 other countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Canada, China, and Peru, passing the selection stage. The final in Moscow featured 235 students from 49 regions of Russia and Belarus, of whom 57 became winners and prize recipients.

The Olympiad is held in multiple stages, with guidance from leading instructors and experts from Central University, T-Technology Group, and HSE:

The first qualifying stage runs from 5–8 December and tests fundamental mathematics and programming knowledge. The second qualifying stage is held from 15–25 January and involves solving a case study in one or more tracks: frontend, backend, mobile development, and a new track—MLOps engineering. Participants in this stage include winners and prize recipients of the first stage this year and the second stage of the previous year, as well as winners of past PROD hackathons. The individual final stage takes place from 12–24 February, requiring students to independently develop a small project based on the Olympiad’s assignment. The team final stage occurs from 13–17 March, where participants defend their projects, developed under mentor guidance, before a jury along with their team. The award ceremony is scheduled for 18 March in Moscow.

Winners and prize recipients receive the following benefits: access to a Russian Language & Cultural Linguistics Program—free courses for international participants after completing school and reaching 18 years of age; the opportunity to enroll in Central University or receive discounts on programs such as “Design and Development of Information Products” and other paid courses at HSE; simplified selection for internships at T-Technology Group; and branded PROD Olympiad merchandise.

Central University is a new-type Russian university implementing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) approach to higher education. The practice-oriented institution collaborates with over 60 leading organizations in Russia and ranks among the country’s top universities. Central University has led Russian school teams to victories at global Olympiads three times: in 2024 and 2025 at the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) and at the 2025 International Cybersecurity Olympiad (ICO), demonstrating a very high level of preparation.

T-Technology Group is a technology company developing a financial and lifestyle services ecosystem for individuals and businesses through mobile applications and digital services. The ecosystem is based on one of the world’s largest online banks with 53 million clients.